In an indicator of the troubled times RIM have fallen upon, insiders at the beleaguered phone manufacturer have revealed that the 2,000 members of its 16,500 workforce will be getting laid off around the start of June.
The bad news comes off the back off RIM reporting heavy financial losses, poor share prices, and an unsuccessful launch of their upcoming operating system, Blackberry 10.
Speaking to Reuters, one of the sources revealing the shake-up at RIM said that up to 6,000 people could lose their jobs, with particular focus on legal, marketing, sales, operations and HR operations.
‘The strategic question is: are you accelerating into a better future or shrinking to a niche operation?’ said the source.
Several insiders have confirmed the troubles at RIM, revealing that many junior staff have been laid off in the last several months in what has sardonically come to be known in the company as ‘Goodbye Thursdays,’ as the cuts tend to occur on that day.
It’s hoped that Blackberry’s next flagship phone – designed to run with Blackberry 10 – will turn around the company’s fortunes, though industry analyst Horace Dediu points out that, historically, once a mobile phone company announces losses, then it will never quite recover its previous position.
[via: The Guardian]
One of the few things that Blackberry really seems to have going for it in these uncertain times is Blackberry Messenger. The popularity of the instant-messaging service has hyper-expanded in the past couple of years, clocking up 55 million users as I write this (compared to around 5 million back in 2009).
It’s no wonder then, that the service is seen as a key tool in RIM getting their Blackberry phones back on track. As handset sales continue to drop (Blackberry’s only account for 10% of the US smartphone market as opposed to 50% two years ago), RIM have been speculating on whether to send BBM to Android and iOS.
There’s a good argument for it. It would disperse the Blackberry brand to OS’s that are undisputably more popular than their own one. The BB brand would stay relevant in the build up to their make-or-break new phone and OS that are coming out at the end of the year.
However, contrary to previous talks at RIM, CEO Thorsten Heins has dug his heels in, wanting to keep the service exclusive, and focusing on pushing Blackberry’s next phone and OS onto the masses.
Another factor to consider is that BBM is facing rising competition from services like WhatsApp and Touch. Gartner analyst Michael Gartenburg had this to say on the matter:
‘I would say right now BBM is still number one (in the messaging space) just by virtue of being around longest… The question now is what is RIM going to do with this? Can they maintain this as a defensible position, especially when others catch on?’
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
In news that will give a bit of cheer to the glum faces of us Blackberry owners, the free cross-platform communications app Viber has come to our very own App World.
Currently in its beta stage, Viber allows users to communicate for free with other Viber users around the world. Strangely, the beta version doesn’t yet feature voice support, so for now you can send free texts, picture messages, and share your location with your fellow Viber-ers.
Viber automatically syncs with your Blackberry contacts once you’ve activated your account, and if any of them already own the app then they’ll be notified that you’ve signed up to it, making it easy to track down your friends.
Blackberry App World remains way behind the likes of Google Play and the App Store when it comes to content, but we can take bits of comfort from news like this, or the release of Angry Birds Space a couple of weeks back.
See, despite RIM reporting awful sales figures and crumbling before our very eyes, it’s not all bad being a Blackberry owner.
[via: Blackberry Empire]
It’s been week after week of bad news for us loyal denizens of Blackberry recently. From a bungled protest, to a bungled unveiling of Blackberry 10 that led to RIM share prices dropping, it’s been a messy little time.
A mild bit of comforting information has come out of the CTIA Wireless Conference, however, as RIM have announced a partnership with traffic management buffs TomTom. From here on in Blackberry Traffic and Blackberry Locate Services will be powered by the reputable traffic app.
With its constantly up-to-date, real-time traffic information, TomTom claims that the average commuter will save 50 minutes of travel time a week (or 40 hours a year).
“Through our strategic relationship with RIM, we are enabling the future of mobile travel with powerful location content and real-time information, including HD Traffic,” said Nuno Campos, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TomTom Licensing. “TomTom’s market-leading real-time traffic information will provide BlackBerry customers with the best mobile travel experience.”
While TomTom won’t exactly be able to save RIM from the current turmoil it’s in, it’s at least redeemed a bit of credibility for the beleaguered Blackberry makers.
[via: TomTom]
Last week’s flash mob in Australia, where a busload of black-clad protesters stood outside an Apple Store bearing banners and T-shirts with the words ‘Wake Up’, caused waves of speculation in the mobile community. Many thought that Samsung were behind the protest, given their habit of taking swipes at Apple wherever possible.
However, an investigation by MacWorld AU has revealed that it was much more likely RIM – the people behind our trusty Blackberry‘s – who arranged the mob. A reading of the source code behind the site reveals a double-click account identifier, which leads to a wealth of links to RIM’s Australian website.
Also, Blunty, the man who took footage of the protest – and is seen jabbering away at the start of the video – is a former employee at RIM.
So all roads lead to RIM, for whom this campaign has to be seen as a bit of a flop. Samsung have got some free publicity out of it, while being able to proudly deny any involvement, while RIM have ended up looking a little bit desperate.
RIM are expected to unveil their Blackberry 10 OS and the first handset to run it in the coming months. It is hoped that the phone will revitalise Blackberry’s, as the company has recorded torrid sales and financial losses in the last quarter.
Our dying breed of Blackberry fans hasn’t had much to celebrate in recent times. RIM have announced fairly awful figures for the first financial quarter of 2012, with there even being talk of a collusion with Samsung to help license their upcoming OS, BB10.
To every cloud there’s a silver lining though, and this week Blackberry owners will be pleased to hear that the App World will be getting the latest cosmic instalment of the Angry Birds franchise; Angry Birds Space. This version is a considerable update on the game’s previous outings, with new birds, powers, and various gravity-defying, zero-gravity and anti-gravity missions.
Sure we may have got it a month later than most of the world, but at least we got it before Windows Phone, so we can take heart from that.
Angry Birds Space can now be purchased from the App World for a lowly $2.99. A small price to pay for a game that’ll surely put a smile on the glum faces of Blackberry owners all over the world. It can be purchased here.
Like many developers, RIM and its flagship Blackberry‘s has been having a torrid time keeping up with the fast-progressing smartphone market. Its recent handsets, such as the Torch 9860 and the Bold 9900, have failed to capture customer imaginations, as rival manufacturers have been releasing phones with more power, better touch-screens, and more popular OS’s. The latest version of RIM’s Blackberry OS (BB10) is being eagerly watched by the mobile community however, as it looks set to overhaul the beleaguered brand.
With BB10 soon to be released and with RIM’s financial situation not looking too hot (having reported $125 million losses last quarter), the Canadian manufacturer has hired a financial consultant to assist them. As such, they’re now considering the available options to lift them out of their fiscal rut.
One of these options is to license its upcoming OS out to interested parties, one of which is thought to be rival manufacturer Samsung. Seeing as Samsung already harbour three OS’s – including its very own Bada OS – this seems like a long shot.
Other options include RIM making ‘strategic investments’ in new technologies, or selling off some of its patents. If it chooses the latter option, then it’s rumoured that Microsoft could be interested in swooping in for some of RIM’s precious patented technology.
[via: Slashgear]
Research In Motion has confirmed that its debut tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, will be updated to BlackBerry 10.
Speaking to TechRadar, Rob Orr, RIM’s VP of product management said: “We’ve said publicly a number of times that our first BB10 handset will be available towards the end of 2012, and that’s still firmly the case. At some point after the launch we’ll bring BB10 to our PlayBooks.”
“The updates from PlayBook 1 to PlayBook 2: astonishing take up rates in a very short space of time. A big percentage of our users just take it, take, it take it,” Orr added.
The update looks set to roll-out at the same time as RIM releases its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone - no doubt the mooted BlackBerry London. Of course, full details of the operating system are still to be confirmed by the Canadian manufacturer, although we’re expecting; home screen widgets, an active lock screen, an iOS-style app launcher, a unified email unbox and support for video calling.
We’ll bring you more details as soon as we get them.
The unannounced BlackBerry Curve 9320 has cropped up in a fresh set of hands-on photos courtesy of BGR.in, ahead of its launch in Q2 2012.
The snaps give us a few more clues as to what expect from the entry-level BlackBerry, as BGR reveals that although it sports a predominantly plastic casing, the quality of the plastic used is better than that used on some high-end Samsung models. The image (left) also confirms that the device will retain the typical QWERTY keyboard of previous Curve models, alongside a bunch of shortcut keys including one for BBM.
According to a leak from January this year, we can also expect the phone to tout a 2.44-inch 320 x 240 (non-touch) display, BlackBerry OS 7, a 3.2 megapixel rear-facing camera, a built-in media player and FM radio, up to 32GB expandable memory , and fast HSDPA and WiFi connectivity.
The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is expected to launch in the coming months, for around £150. We’ll bring you more details as we get them.
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 may have arrived on UK soil just last month, but it’s price has already been dropped to just £299.99 SIM free.
Back in January, it would have cost you £400 to get your mitts on RIM‘s latest BlackBerry Bold. However, thanks to electronics retailer Expansys UK, you can now pick up the Bold 9790 for £299.99 upfront. The retailer’s also offering next day delivery for £7, so it could be with you as early as Saturday.
This price drop isn’t because of disappointing specs, as the handset pairs a decent 2.45-inch (360 x 480) capacitive touchscreen with a tactile portrait QWERTY keypad. The phone also arrives running the latest version of BlackBerry software – BB7 – equipping the phone with a slick UI, boosted web browser and all of the usual BlackBerry features (BBM, BlackBerry App World).
There’s also a 1GHz single-core processor, a 5 megapixel camera with 640p video, integrated NFC smarts, 8GB of included storage and fast HSDPA and WiFi connectivity.
